Chemical derivatives of carbohydrates, hydroxypropylcyclodextrins, originated in the Section are potent and nontoxic solubilizers of drugs, hormones and of lipids. These solubilizers have many applications in pharmaceutics and pharmacology and presently some preparations based on them are used in man in phase one studies. The work of the section has been focused on (a) optimization of solubilizing abilities of hydroxypropylcyclodextrins through the study of chemical reactivity of cyclodextrins and (b) on easier preparation of solid pharmaceutical formulations through the study of equilibria in the system of hydroxpropylcyclodextrin: drug: solvent.